Owari no Ghoul
by Unaltered
Summary: Yuuichirou Hyakuya thought his best friend and the rest of his family were dead after being attacked by a ghoul when he was twelve. Training in a special sect of the CCG to exact his revenge on ghouls, he meets teammates with similar goals to his-but soon finds that Mikaela is not, in fact, dead, but is now...A ghoul himself. ((MikaYuu, GureShin, Kimiyoi, Mitsunoa, Renekusu))
1. Chapter 1

**A crossover fic between another user and I. We posted it on Ao3 and are now posting it here.**

* * *

 _Humans were thought to be at the top of the foodchain. If they could eat it, then they certainly would eat it. If it could be consumed, they would consume it. Animals, plants, fish. They ruled above all. At the top, unwavering. Nothing would be able to stop them._

 _But suddenly, they weren't at the top anymore._

 _Hundreds of years ago, came the appearance of a new species-one that looked exactly like a human, and thrived on eating them. There was no other way for these beings to survive-they could only consume the flesh and entrails of a human. Often thought to be mutated from humans and dubbed ghouls, the human race lived in fear of them. Not much was known about them until the second World War, when several were captured and experimented upon._

 _The only food they could share with humans were coffee and water. Water, because like a human, it too makes up much of their bodies. The reason for coffee, however, is unclear._

 _They have high Rc levels that accumulate as_ kagune, _muscle-like extensions of their bodies that they use to-_

"Blah blah blah, I already know all this," Yuuichirou groaned, flipping onto his back. Akane giggled as Mikaela shot the black-haired boy a look, and Yuu simply stuck his tongue out. The two twelve year old boys were currently studying for their school exams outside-both had taken a class this year that was sort of a preparation for the classes held at Shibuya High, which every CCG Ghoul Investigator must attend and pass in order to sustain a job there.

However, the class wasn't really all that Yuu expected it to be-there was less ass-kicking and more reading than he would have liked.

"This is all important, Yuu," Mika smiled, setting the textbook down as he did so, "Can you at least name all of the _kagune_ that the-"

"Fast _kagune_ , stabby-stab _kagune_ , tentacle _kagune,_ tail _kagune_ ," Yuu listed, and Akane let out a full-blown laugh. Mika sighed, but there was no exasperation in his voice.

"Yuu-chan," He chided, but didn't say anything further. The orphanage children were all currently outside, playing on the playground. The three eldest watched the younger mess around on the swings and slides, screaming in enjoyment as they did so. Yuu gave a huff as he sat up, feeling bored. He didn't want to be here. He'd rather be walking through town or something-anywhere that wasn't this damn orphanage.

He was getting tired of seeing it everyday, with its bleak walls and creaking beds. It's not like it was a bad place. It was just dreary. The most colorful room in the orphanage was the playroom, and being inside it made him feel like he was five years old.

"We need to study, it's really important!" Mika said, and Yuu just huffed once again and rolled his eyes. Akane balanced her face in the palm of her hand, smiling at the two eldest. She was merely a year younger than them, but already much more mature.

"If you don't study, you fail. And if you fail, you won't be able to get into Shibuya High," Akane reminded him.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Yuu snapped, sitting up in annoyance, "You two tell me the same thing every single day!"

"And for good reason," said Mika, "You're so dumb sometimes, it's a wonder how you can even put your clothes on in the morning."

"Oi," Yuu barked as Akane and Mika exchanged a high-five, "You know this counts as bullying?!"

"We're just having fun," Akane said, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward, so her elbows were balanced on her knees. "We do care about you, you know. Which is why we always remind you to study! We know how much you want to work at the CCG!"

"Yeah, Ghoul Investigators needs to be smart, athletic, and quick-thinkers, Yuu!" Mika stuck his tongue out playfully at the boy, "You're none of those things!"

"Hey, if you're going to be saying all that trash, you're no better than I am!"

"Ah?! What?! But I, the Great Mikaela, have far more superior skills than Yuu does!" Mika boasted, placing his hand on his chest. Akane applauded him, and Yuu grumpily turned away, not at all amused with their antics.

"I'm going on a walk," Yuu said, getting to his feet and stuffing his hands in his jacket pocket. Mika got to his feet as well.

"You probably shouldn't go on your own. After all you, you'd probably get kidnapped." Mika said, and ignoring Yuu's "hey!, turned to Akane, "You'll keep an eye on everybody, won't you, Akane?"

"Sure!" She said, smiling and straightening up, "You can trust me, O Great Mikaela!"

"Please don't encourage him," Yuu groaned, "And Mika, I don't need you to come with me-"

"Hey guys, Yuu-chan and I are going for a walk!" Mika called to the other orphanage children, waving enthusiastically, "Also, Kouta, if you don't stop pushing Ako off the slide, I'll steal your dessert for the rest of the month!"

"Awwww! Fine!"

"You don't need to come with me," Yuu argued once again, but Mika merely laughed at this.

"Oh, come on, Yuu. You're too stupid to be wandering the streets alone!"

"H-hey!" Yuu cried as Mika raced back into the orphanage, and he quickly followed, not ready to let the blond get away with that remark.

"We're going out!" Mika called to the director of the orphanage, who merely smiled and nodded, busy sweeping up the mess left behind in the dining hall. The two boys slipped on their shoes, both wearing identical black sneakers with red laces. They shared the same shoe and clothing size, and weren't even sure which pair truly belonged to who.

The twentieth ward of Tokyo was busy and filled with people going about their business, talking to others or going shopping. Yuu and Mika walked through the crowds of people, which Yuu always enjoyed. There was something about walking with no destination in mind in the city, to admire the bright signs and stores that Yuu just enjoyed the feeling of. The cold air only made it better, so he wasn't sweating, nor was he shivering, clad in his warm jacket. Mika walked beside him, smiling and talking to Yuu.

"So, I heard that the Moon Demon Company _really_ uses those special Quinques," Mika mused, ducking to the left to avoid a man who was gesturing enthusiastically, "They've found a way to use the _kagune_ and turn them into weapons like swords and stuff so it's more efficient to kill ghouls."

"Cool," Yuu commented, conjuring a mental image of a glowing sword being wielded against the monstrous figure of a ghoul, "That sounds a lot better than carrying a huge briefcase around."

"Haha, but the downside is that they don't have a way to compact the weapons, so it'd be pretty obvious you're an investigator if you carry a huge weapon around." said Mika, bumping shoulders with Yuu on purpose.

"Still sounds better." Yuu stated.

"Haha, you would say that."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing at all," Mika grinned, before changing the conversation, "You want to go buy a board game?"

"Hey, don't change the topic, what was that supposed to mean?" Yuu half-shouted in irritation, but Mika didn't answer his question and instead skipped ahead of Yuu, smiling.

"Stop being so intense about everything and start joking a little more," Mika said, Yuu unable to see his face. "You're so annoyed all the time. You need to start being happy."

"I don't need to start being anything," Yuu said, digging his hands further inside his jacket pocket, "You just need to stop bugging me."

"Hmm," Mika hummed, coming to a sudden stop outside a café, blue eyes focused on the sign, "Hey, have you ever been in here?"

"Eh?" Yuu backtracked and looked up at the café sign, frowning, "No, never heard of it. Sang-Sang….Sangui...Uh…"

"Sanguinem!" Mika chirped, grabbing Yuu's hand and dragging him inside enthusiastically, the black-haired boy protesting as he did so, "The sweets here taste really good, I've been meaning to take us all here one day!"

"You come here often?" Yuu questioned, and Mika answered by racing up to the counter and practically shouting,

"Ferid! Can we have one of those cakes you told me about last week?"

"I don't want any cakes," Yuu muttered under his breath.

'Ferid' turned away from making coffee, and Yuu saw that the man had silvery hair and eyes that were nearly turquoise. Yuu paused, suddenly feeling uneasy. The man was tall, with long, flowing hair and an angular face that seemed handsome in an unnerving way. He didn't really like the way the man's eyes flickered down at Mika, smiling.

"Ah, dear Mika," said Ferid, leaning across the counter and giving Mika a warm look, turquoise eyes shining, "Only if you have the money to buy them this time. I'm not giving them away for free any longer!"

"Don't worry, I have some!" Mika grinned as he dug into his coat pocket, extracting the proper amount of yen and holding up the money to show Ferid. Yuu slowly slid up to Mika from behind, not liking this Ferid guy one bit. He had an unsettling air about him, and Yuu had noticed that a few of the other patrons were watching them with interest. Ferid accepted the money graciously and placed it in the register, humming some popular song Yuu recognized as he did so.

"Alright," He grinned, before turning to another worker with long blond hair and eyes that looked orange, "Sachiko, could you get the chocolate cakes? Two of them."

Sachiko shot Ferid a look, before moving to the back, and coming out shortly with two cakes in hand. Mika cast Yuu a gleeful look, who only raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Ferid took the cakes from Sachiko and handed them to Mika, who said,

"Thank you very much, Ferid-san."

"No problem, Mika," Ferid's smile was only getting wider, eyes closing as he leaned over and gave the top of Mika's head a pat, "You should bring the orphanage children with you next time."

"How do you know we're from the orphanage?" Yuu asked before Mika could say anything. Ferid's eyes slid to Yuu, and he felt unsettled once again.

"Young Mikaela told me, of course," Ferid nearly purred, resting his chin in his palm as he scanned Yuu with his eyes, making Yuu feel violated in some way, "You must be Yuuichirou? Pretty green eyes and black hair. Just as Mika described."

"What?" Yuu rounded on Mika, who was holding one of the cakes out to Yuu, that annoying cherubic smile still on his face, "You told him about me?!"

"I just talk to him whenever he's free and I'm bored," Mika said, with a shrug, "It's not like I've told him what orphanage we're from. I'm not stupid, Yuu! Not like you. The Great Mikaela wouldn't make a foolish mistake like that!"

"Hey! Piss off, Mi-"

"Haha, shut up and eat the cake!" Mika laughed, stuffing the sweet into Yuu's mouth. Yuu nearly stumbled backwards, glaring angrily at the blond-haired boy before him. He didn't like the way this place felt-an indescribable feeling in his stomach told him that this place was crawling with bad things, and the fact that Mika had been communicating with this Ferid guy didn't sit well with Yuu.

"Can't you feel it?" Yuu whispered harshly to Mika as they left the café. Yuu could feel Sachiko's orange-ish eyes following them out the door. Mika merely gave Yuu a look of confusion, licking the chocolate off his fingers.

"Feel what?" Mika asked curiously, brow furrowing in concern as Yuu's frown only deepened. Maybe Yuu just wasn't feeling well…? Mika usually had good instincts when it came to things like this-maybe Yuu was just imagining things, and needed to lie down. That was it.

He didn't eat the chocolate cake, though, because he wasn't a big fan of that.

* * *

"Why you looking so sour?" A voice asked later that evening. Yuu looked up from his book to see Akane standing before him, smiling.

"It's nothing," Yuu mumbled, turning a page, "Just not feeling well."

"Aw, why?"

"Just a feeling, Akane. Have you had a feeling like that? That something wasn't well?"

Akane paused, thinking for a moment. Her hand twiddled with a few strands of her hair, before saying,

"All the time, I feel like something bad is going to happen."

Yuu shook his head. "I'm not talking about being paranoid, I'm talking about, like, a gut feeling. Something you just feel inside, you know?"

Akane only stared at him quizzically, and Yuu sighed, shutting his book.

"Guess not."

"I'm sure Mika would understand better," Akane said apologetically. Yuu thought back to the café, and the chilling aura surrounding it. Surrounding that man. And Mika hadn't felt it…

"I'm not sure he would," Yuu said, staring off into the distance and not seeing Akane's concerned expression.

Yuu returned to the café with Mika twice after that, when the blond had insisted in that manner of his that made Yuu more and more frustrated. The bad feeling was still there, but not as prominent as it had been when he had first told him he'd gone to the café many times because of how nice the staff and customers were. Despite what Mika said, Yuu still felt the eyes of the patrons on them as they talked and ate goodies, and still felt uneasy around Ferid, who talked dramatically and with inhumanly graceful movements.

"Why do you look so uneasy? Is your stomach hurting?" Mika asked on their second trip to the café, after asking for more of the chocolate cakes. Sachiko had brought them to him, looking thoroughly unhappy as she did so. Yuu didn't like that.

"Are you kidding? Doesn't that Sachiko girl look so unhappy?" Yuu asked, gesturing to her. Mika just shook his head.

"Sachiko always looks like that, she says she hates working."

Yuu just sighed, not knowing how to translate this feeling into comprehensible words. When they went home that time, the orphanage children smelled the sweets on them and instantly crowded around them.

"You two smell like cookies!" Taichi, the youngest, cried out indignantly, his hands tugging at their sleeves, "I want sooooome!"

"Me too!" The rest shouted, save Akane, who shook her head, smiling.

"Give brother Mika and brother Yuu a rest, guys," She giggled, patting the top of Taichi's head. Mika swooped down and picked Taichi up, swinging him around in the air with a smile on his face. Taichi screeched with laughter.

"You guys want to go get cookies?" Mika asked, and everyone cheered their response, a loud "yes!"

"We can't, we have to ask-" Yuu began, not wanting to go back to Sanguinem again that day, but Chihiro was already racing up to the director, asking excitedly if they could go get sweets. Yuu prayed that the old woman would say no, but to his chagrin, she nodded, so long as they promised to be home before ten.

"It's almost nine, so we better hurry!" Akane said, and the children rushed to pull on their hats and coats, rushing out the door as the director called out to the three oldest children-

"Watch out for the young ones!"

"Don't worry, we got this!" Mika said, waving to her excitedly, "You guys are going to love this place, it's so yummy!"

Yuu jogged at the back of the group to make sure no one wandered off. The streets of Tokyo were full of late-night workers heading home and those going out to nightclubs or merely for a walk. Flashing lights and signs illuminated the sidewalk, though this didn't stop Kouta tripping repeatedly on absolutely nothing.

They arrived at Sanguinem at nine fifteen, and the children filed inside the nearly empty café with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Mika led them up to the counter, already extracting money from his pocket, smiling at Ferid widely. Ferid stopped, staring at the children, before smiling that smile of his that made Yuu uneasy, stomach churning.

"We're going to need a lot more cakes," Ferid chortled, turning to look at Sachiko, who was already heading to the back to get more, sighing in exasperation. Yuu wondered why she just didn't get the cakes that were on the counter display, where everyone else clearly got theirs, but decided not to question it for now, because all the children were rushing forward to grab a cake from Sachiko (save Fumie, who wanted vanilla instead, so Sachiko went to the back and got a vanilla cake for her).

"Alright everybody, sit down and eat quickly so we can return home quickly," Akane instructed to the children. Everyone attempted to scramble onto the same booth, shouting and pushing at each other as they did so. Mika offered Yuu a cake, smiling at him with amusement sparkling in his eyes.

"No," Yuu said, frowning at it, "I hate chocolate."

"Aww. Why don't you ask for vanilla?" Mika asked.

"Leave me alone," Yuu said, turning away from Mika and sitting on the edge of the booth, still not feeling right about this place. He didn't like the way that both Ferid and Sachiko were watching them intensely, eyes focused on their movements. Maybe it was just because they were a bunch of kids out late at night, as well as the only customers, currently. Maybe that was it. That made sense, right…?

Yeah, that _had_ to be it. If Mika didn't feel anything weird about it…

"We should start heading home," Mika said when everyone was nearly finished with their cakes. Immediately, the orphanage children began complaining.

"I want to stay and have more!" Kouta shouted, and Ako and Taichi both screamed in agreement.

"C'mon guys, let's head home," Yuu said, grabbing Taichi and Ako's hands. They were the youngest and the loudest, so he ushered them outside quickly, wanting to take them away from the café as quickly as possible. Fumie followed, Chihiro dragging her feet along. Akane gave Sachiko and Ferid a smile before jogging to catch up with Chihiro. Taichi and Ako both yanked themselves away from Yuu and ran to Akane instead, screaming that they wanted to braid her hair when they got home.

"Hey, Yuu," Mika said, sidling up the black-haired boy as the other children continued to talk loudly, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Yuu responded, turning away from him, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. You don't ever seem happy when you hang out with me, anymore."

"When have I ever?" Yuu deadpanned, and Mika laughed, though his laughter ended shortly.

"It's just...I've got a feeling you're really not happy, Yuu-chan.

"A feeling? So you can tell when I'm not happy, but not when something is bad?" Yuu asked, turning to face Mika, who only blinked in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Mika asked, meeting Yuu's green eyes with his own blue, nearly stopping in his tracks. Yuu merely scowled, not happy.

"You don't feel it? I don't want you going back to that place, Mika. It doesn't feel right!"

"How so?" Mika asked, before turning to look at the other children, "Hey, remember, both ways before crossing the street!"

"It just…" Yuu crossed his arms, feeling goosebumps prick them, struggling to find a way to put it into words, "I just haven't felt this way about something in a long time. Just a really bad gut feeling."

"Really?" Mika's brow furrowed as he thought about something, "I don't feel anything like that when I visit, though."

"There's something bad there," Yuu assured the boy, "I haven't felt this way about something since those two ghouls came into…"

Yuu didn't finish his sentence. He didn't want to. Mika nodded in understanding, before looking at Yuu again.

"Well, why didn't you say anything before?"

"I trust you," Yuu said, shrugging one shoulder, and felt his face go red when Mika giggled.

"Awww, you do trust me! I'm so glad I've won you over like this."

"Sh-shut up, okay! I just had a bad feeling."

"I'm glad you told me, then," Mika smiled, wrapping an arm around Yuu's shoulder and bumping his forehead with his own, "I won't go anymore. Does that make you feel better?"

"Sure, whatever," Yuu huffed, uncrossing his arms and stuffing his hands inside his jacket pocket.

"Whatcha two talking about?" Akane asked, backtracking so she could slide next to the two oldest boys, "Exciting stuff?"

"Nah," Mika said, giving her a smile, "By the way, Akane, how's practice going?"

"Like you don't hear it," Akane laughed, "I'm sure everyone across town can hear how bad my viola skills are!"

"They sound just fine," Mika assured her, and Yuu tuned out the rest of their conversation, not interested. Mika had promised to not go back to Sanguinem, which should make him feel at peace, now, but there was just something that continued twisting in his gut, tugging at the back of his mind. Something buried deep within him, like the instinct coursing within him, told him something was off.

"Kitty!" Ako suddenly shrieked from the front of the group-she had skipped ahead of all of them whilst maintaining a grip on Chihiro's coat. The small girl was pointing down the alley to the left of them-they were still nearly ten minutes away from the orphanage, and ten o'clock was approaching fast.

"Kitty?! Where?!" Taichi demanded, and Ako gestured down the alley. The other orphanage children leaned in to see that a cat was indeed at the end of the alley, its fur bristling as it glared at them.

"I wanna catch it!" Taichi said, turning to look at Akane, and Akane shook her head.

"It's probably got fleas," She said, but Kouta was already rushing forward, smiling energetically.

"I'll catch it for you guys!"

"Hey, get back here!" Akane shouted, running after Kouta, "I just said no!"

Mika laughed as the youngest two of the orphanage took this as a sign to run after Akane as well. Chihiro gave a sigh as Fumie laughed. They could hear Kouta shouting after the cat, which had raced in the other direction down the alley, yowling in irritation.

"Oi," Yuu said loudly, hoping his voice reached the other orphan children, "Guys, get back here! It's almost ten o'clock!"

There was a sudden silence, and everyone else suddenly hushed, waiting for a response. There was a loud crash, followed by a scream coming directly from where the others had run to. Yuu felt his blood run cold as he exchanged a glance with Mika, whose face was full of despair-they both raced down the alley, with the others following.

At the end of the alley, turning the corner, they saw Akane, Kouta, and Taichi all staring at a tall figure that was leaning over Ako, holding her neck in his hand. It was the figure of a man, who lifted her high into the air, the moonlight briefly illuminating her face in the otherwise dark alley. One of her pigtails had come undone. Her head was turned at an unnatural angle.

"Oh, she's dead already," Said a familiar voice, and that gut feeling came back full force as Ako was dropped to the ground. Mika's eyes widened in horror as the man stepped forward into the light, and the long, shining silvery hair that belonged to the man who'd been serving him at Sanguinem for three months was revealed before them. But his eyes weren't the same-what had once been shining pools of turquoise were now blood-colored, the whites of his eyes black.

Taichi stared down at Ako's body, small frame trembling, unable to comprehend what had happened.

"Ako…?" He whispered, reaching forward to prod her body with his tiny hand. Yuu started forward, panic welling inside him.

"TAICHI, NO!" Yuu screamed, "EVERYBODY, RUN!"

The other orphanage stumbled backwards in shock and horror-Kouta raced forward to grab at Taichi, but Ferid swiped at the youngest first-knocking his head clean off his body.

Kouta shrieked in horror, tripping over himself as he hastily scrambled away. The other children began running for real now, Chihiro crying and Fumie shrieking at the top of her lungs-Yuu bounded forward, grabbing Kouta's forearm, feeling his heartbeat accelerate.

"MOVE!" Yuu shouted, thrusting Kouta forward-he scrambled after the others, but Ferid swept past Yuu quickly, and then Kouta was falling to the floor, a bloodied hole in his side-Ferid continued down the alley at a speed they couldn't comprehend, and Fumie went down as well, crying out as she did so. Mika lunged after Ferid, trying to grab at the back of his shirt, his horror-stricken face twisting as he missed.

"Stop it," Mika said quietly falling to his knees, before speaking louder, " _Stop it, please!_ "

Yuu spun around to see that Mika had tears streaming down his face, on his knees and not moving an inch, shell-shocked. The absolute opposite of Yuu, who's body was pumped with adrenaline, his body trembling with the desire to run away.

"Mika," Yuu stumbled forward, his legs filled with so much energy it nearly caused him to trip onto his face, "Come on, we have to-"

"You're not going anywhere," A voice said smoothly, and Yuu looked up to see that Ferid was there, holding Akane's struggling body in his hands, holding her up high like he'd done to Ako, a smile stretching across his face.

"Put her down," Mika demanded, scrambling to his feet rapidly and shoving Yuu out of the way so he was standing in front of the man, "Ferid, put her down!"

"Darling Mika," Ferid crooned, squeezing Akane's neck. She continued kicking, blood rolling down her chin as it spurted out of her mouth. Her eyes found Yuu's, terrified, and Yuu felt as if his entire body had been plunged into frigid water.

This couldn't be happening.

They were just kids.

They were just…

His eyes swivelled to the right, hoping that everybody else had made it-but saw only all their bodies littered down the alley. Chihiro had apparently made it the furthest-she lay in a pool of blood almost ten feet from the alleyway entrance, nearly ripped in half, the intestines of her stomach trailing out onto the ground, pale skin flecked with blood.

"No…" He mumbled, before turning his attention back to Ferid, who was watching him with amusement glinting in his eye. He'd dropped Akane to the ground, for she had stopped moving. Her limp body stayed down, not even twitching, and Yuu's own body suddenly felt weak, as opposed to the energy it had held seconds before. Mika was still staring up in shock at Ferid's face, crystalline tears still streaming down his cheeks as he mouthed things wordlessly.

"You're...A ghoul," Mika whispered, voice trembling, "A ghoul…"

"Mika," Yuu whispered, but the feeling in his gut told him it was futile. They were dead. They were going to die. They couldn't escape this.

And as if acting on Yuu's gut feeling, Ferid's hand shot forward, entering Mika's chest. Yuu watched his fingers break through the fabric of the back of Mika's jacket, and Mika's body collapsed, Ferid's arm the only thing keeping him up. Yuu rushed forward to help, to kick at Ferid or punch or scream or-

"DIE!" Yuu shouted, delivering a kick to Ferid's back. Ferid didn't budge. He merely turned around, giving Yuu that smile of his that had made Yuu's stomach churn for so long.

"No...Yuu-chan…" Mika cried, blood escaping his mouth and running down his face, "Please run...P-please…."

"So precious," Ferid crooned, turning his hand in Mika's chest. Mika gasped aloud, eyes closing, body slumping, and Ferid yanked his hand out from his chest.

"MIKA!" Yuu screamed, backing away as he did so, trying not to hyperventilate. The boy's blond hair fanned out around his head like a halo, dull blue eyes flickering over to Yuu. His lips mouthed the word 'run.'

 _No. I'm not leaving. Not without you._

Yuu stumbled forward, wanting to reach out to, to help his last remaining family, but Mika yowled at him, screaming,

"RUN, YUU! RUN!"

Ferid darted forward as he did so, but to his great surprise, Mika lunged forward, grabbing at his leg and causing him to trip.

Yuu turned on his heel instantly, tearing down the alleyway, but soon felt Ferid's fingers snagging at the hood of his jacket, and Yuu's heart started beating even faster as terror consumed his entire being like some sort of awful, awful monster-

"What did I tell you?" A voice called from above. Yuu looked up, seeing a shadowy figure standing atop the roof of the building on the left, face obscured by a mask of some sorts, blue hair seemingly floating with the wind. But that didn't matter-because Ferid's grip on his hood loosened when he saw the figure, and Mika gurgled at Yuu, shouting at him to run once again, and Yuu darted forward, leaping over Fumie's body and skidding out of the alley.

Adrenaline carried him far, rounding the corner, and he didn't know where he was going, he just knew that he was running, running running running, getting away from the children's cold bodies-

He pushed people out of the way, screaming, crying, shouting because they were all dead, and Mika was dead, Akane was dead, Kouta and Chihiro and-

"Kid!" A hand shot out and gripped his upper arm, pulling him to a halt. Yuu's head snapped towards the source, heart racing, body trembling. A man stood there, with raven-colored hair and strange, purplish eyes. Yuu felt panic consume his entire being. Was this another…?

"What are you running from?" The man asked, gazing down at him. Yuu caught sight of the-sword-at the man's side, and his brain nearly short-circuited as he hastily recalled the conversation he'd had with Mika-about the weapons of the Ghoul Investigators-

"CCG?" He stuttered, and before the man could answer, flung his arm out towards the direction of the alley he had just run from, struggling to speak through his panic breathing, "My family, they're dead, a ghoul k-killed them and-"

"Alright kid, stay here," The man said, before turning to two women Yuu hadn't noticed before; they were both spaced behind the man, four feet apart from each other, and the closest one twelve feet behind him. They had approached him when he stopped, and Yuu saw that they too had weapons at their sides-the black-haired woman with several kunai in her hand and the woman with long wheat-colored locks holding a heavy briefcase.

No doubt one of the rumored Quinques the CCG supposedly possessed, if they _were_ CCG as Yuu suspected them to be. Hope rose into his chest, because maybe-maybe these guys could fix everything, and save everybody, bring them back to life with some medicine and surgery and-

"Sayuri, come with me. It's just like Shinya's intel said-Shigure, escort the kid to our-"

"Got it," Shigure interrupted, leaning forward and placing a hand on Yuu's shoulder. He had stopped crying and hyperventilating, and instead stood there in absolute shock as she gently led him away, Sayuri and the man rushing to the direction Yuu had pointed towards. They must for sure be Ghoul Investigators-they had an air of determination about them, something Yuu himself had been striving to accomplish to kill ghouls. But…

"My family," He whispered, suddenly latching onto the woman's waist-so close, with black hair and green eyes like his own. He could almost imagine her as his mother, or an aunt, or somebody related to him and familiar-his twelve-year-old mind had still not quite grasped what happened, sending in smalls bouts of shock throughout his entire body, causing him to tremble. The foolish hope he'd had mere seconds ago was dashed as the full realization of what had happened settled in.

They were dead.

Akane was dead.

Mika was dead.

His family was dead.

He'd watched them die. Watched their blood spatters the walls and fleck their skin and pool on the ground, watched them fall limp and heard their voices die.

"My family," he repeated again, and he felt Shigure stroke the top of his head as she continued to carry him along, half-dragging him through the streets of the city, a sobbing child who felt as weak as he pretended to not be, as the absence of his family hit him like a bullet.

* * *

"You killed my precious children," The masked woman said, her entire figure blurry. He couldn't make her out, for some reason...No, it wasn't just her figure...Everything was blurry. His vision was blurry. He couldn't breathe. There was blood bubbling out of his mouth. Every couple of blinks his vision cleared, only to become blurry again.

His entire body was warm. But it was slowly becoming cold, starting at his core. He couldn't feel his legs or arms or face. He didn't know if he was alive or dead. He didn't care.

All he could think about was Yuu. He had run away. He was okay.

But the rest of his family. They were dead. He had aided in their deaths. He had brought them to that café late at night after the director suggested it and he had let them run off to catch the cat and he probably should have noticed Yuu-chan felt uneasy about the place and he probably should have…

"My dear Krul, take off the disguise and talk to me, face-to-face," Ferid crooned, and Mika felt intense hatred and regret well up inside his chest, mingling with the cold feeling beginning to freeze his insides. He felt like he had to throw up. Throw up all his blood. All his organs. Puke them all up and thrash around in them, because that was what he deserved.

The woman had long blue hair that flowed in the wind, and a strangely shaped mask that covered the upper portion of her face. Strands of pink could be seen from under the blue, however, so it must have been a wig. Mika barely made out all these details as his vision continued clouding over. He felt sleepy. Tired. Exhausted. Dead.

"I will deal with you later," The woman growled, pointing a finger at Ferid, "That boy has probably alerted the authorities already. We will have to start the experiment now, even if they're not of the mature age we wanted them to be."

She walked right over to him. Felt her hands on his body, picking him up gently. His blood soaked her shirt. Her eyes found his behind her mask. Her scleras were black, and her pupils bright red.

She was…

A ghoul.

He wanted to struggle. To run away.

A ghoul.

A ghoul had just killed his entire family.

A ghoul.

He needed to run…

And find Yuu-chan…

"Take the other one," The woman barked, and Mika heard Ferid chuckle, and it only increased the rage brewing inside of him.

Dead.

They were…

Dead.

All dead.

* * *

Pain. He could feel pain. But it seemed distant, and far away. As if his brain wasn't registering it the way it should be.

This is weird.

He is dead.

He shouldn't feel pain.

But he was fine with this.

He deserved it.

Deserved more than this.

Deserved to have his arteries ruptured and his veins cut, deserved to feel the pain his family did as they were brought to their deaths.

He could hear voices.

Voices?

The dead didn't hear things.

But the dead also didn't feel pain, did they?

Light…

There was light…

And coldness…

And then...

* * *

And then darkness.

* * *

The boy spoke in a monotone voice as he told them what happened and then he thrashed and screamed in his sleep while he and Sayuri watched, his tiny body shaking with terror.

"I can't imagine that happening to someone so young," Sayuri whispered, tears running down her face, "So many kids. All dead."

"Any word from the orphanage?" Guren asked, leaning against the bedframe as he did so.

"The director has disappeared," Sayuri informed him, turning to face him with a strange look in her eyes, "We are unaware if she is dead or...Something else."

Guren sighed, running a hand over his face, trying to ignore the headache that was pounding the inside of his cranium. He hadn't expected to deal with this, not when they'd been tipped that there was going to be a ghoul attack in the twentieth ward, today. Hadn't expected the victim(s) to be a bunch of _kids_.

"What do we do with him now?" A voice asked, and the two turned to see Shigure standing there, looking up at them with a blank expression, though her eyes were intense, hands curled into fists. She walked further into the room, leaving the door open as she awaited a response.

"We place him in CCG custody, for now," Guren said, looking down at the boy, "His name is Yuuichirou Hyakuya, right? Find out everything you can about him. See why a ghoul may have wanted to target him."

"Already done so," Another voice said, and Mito joined them with Norito following, looking tired, "His parents were killed by ghouls when he was eight. He joined the Hyakuya orphanage, where he lived. He went to school, and was in the pre-Shibuya class, with neither terrible nor excelling grades."

"Pre-Shibuya, eh?" Norito asked, eyes travelling over to his sleeping body,his own eyes half-lidded with fatigue, "Probably wants to be an Investigator, huh?"

"Possibly," Guren mused, crossing his arms as he thought for a few seconds. Sayuri read the look in his eyes, and gave a small sigh, eyes casting downwards. "We could consider telling him about the CCG program. He could join Shinoa in it."

"If he _wants_ to do it," Everyone turned to the source of the new voice. Shinya stood in the doorway, smiling at them all. None of them had heard him enter the apartment, which frankly annoyed Guren. They ought to tie a bell around his neck. "He'd have to be crazy, though."

"I'd rather we not…" Sayuri muttered, though her concerns went unheard as Yuu let out another bout of screaming, turning over in his sleep. He had yet to wake up, amazingly. Must be the brain shutting down his body due to the shock

"Yeah," Guren said after nobody spoke for awhile, "But we work with all kinds of crazy. And he's got some strong motivation, now. We could work with that."

"How do we know he'll even be the type of person to wish for vengeance, though?" Mito asked, her almond-shaped eyes narrowing, "He might not want to do this."

Guren leaned forward as the kid started thrashing again, gripping his shoulder so he wouldn't fall of the bed.

"Oh, trust me." He assured, facing the rest of his team, "He will."


	2. Chapter 2

Mikaela wanted to leave. He didn't care for the pink-haired lady with shining magenta eyes who claimed she'd saved him, didn't care that she said he would have to work under her now, didn't care that his body felt sore and he was somehow miraculously alive. He did not care for all that.

All he cared about was escaping.

He just wanted to _leave._

Forget the crazy lady and run.

"Stop struggling," The woman said from across the room, sitting in a chair and reading a novel that was propped up on her knees, seemingly bored with the entire situation. Mika continued to yank at the straps binding his wrists to the bed, screaming and crying, wanting for someone to hear him and save him. "Are you hungry? I'll get you some meat, but I'll probably be gone for a while."

"I'm not hungry!" Mika cried out, trying not to hyperventilate, but breathing so hard he felt spittle run down his face, "Please, let me leave. I just want to go home! I promise I won't tell anyone what happened!"

The woman looked up at him, blinking with her eyes wide, before sighing and setting her book down. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't allow you to leave."

"Please tell me why," Mika begged, wanting to curl up into a ball and hide forever. Wanted to forget his family's dying faces. Why was this happening? She continued gazing upon him, as if waiting for him to respond.

"Please tell me what I can do…" He pleaded quietly, twisting his body a little more to look her better in the face.

"I can't let you leave. If I did, how would you be able to defend yourself?" The woman asked, flashing him a questioning look as she stood to her feet. She was very tiny, even standing up. "You don't know how to hunt, and you can't fend for yourself. I bet you don't even know what kagune _is._ "

Mika blinked at her in confusion, the wetness on his cheeks making his entire face feel warm.

"What does...What does _kagune_ have to do with all this?"

"Ah, so you _do_ know," The woman blinked in surprise, before schooling her expression into one of coldness, "And you don't need to say it all fancy like that, kid. Kagune is essential to your survival, of course."

"But...But I…" Mika felt extremely lost, and the feeling of growing confusion was overtaking his fear now, and even the aching in his wrists seemed to dull, "But...How?"

In response to this, the woman smiled at him. It was very unsettling, and they sat there for a few moments in silence, the smile on her face. It might've looked nice on another person, but on her, it appeared to be cold and bland. It looked unsettling on what could be interpreted as a cute face.

 _She could be so pretty if she tried._

Half second after he thought this, four long and hellish-looking _things_ erupted from her back, like four very long and thin tentacles. They were nearly magenta in color, like her eyes, and seemed bright in an unnatural way. They moved and flicked around easily and gracefully, as if they were underwater. Mika stared in awe, not knowing how to react, unsure if he should be afraid of them, moving as gracefully and fluidly as they did.

The tentacle-like protrusions all moved rapidly at once, wrapping around her right shoulder and arm, and she lifted it into the air, still smiling at him.

"This is my kagune," She said, "And this is how I fight."

Two of the tentacles unravelled themselves quickly from her arm and pushed against the floor, propelling her forward so fast that before Mika could even blink, she was coming at him, her right arm stretched out and the two tentacles wrapped around it seemingly reaching out for him. Mika screamed, instantly trying to push away from the hellish things, eyes squeezing shut, only to hear the woman laugh when nothing happened. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw that her kagune was quickly retreating into her back while she continuously smiled at him, though this time the smile seemed to actually reach her eyes.

"I am Krul," She said in a quiet voice once his panicked breathing had calmed, "And you, dear Mika, are my pet."

Krul came back the next day with a plate of steak in her hands, and Mika's head snapped up, staring at her in confusion as she brought it over to him. She untied one of his wrists from the bed before handing him the plate. Mika cautiously took it, trying not to anger her. She was crazy. And a ghoul. If he continued to react like he had before, he could possibly….

 _No. Don't think like that. Stay relaxed._

Now that he was calm, he was formulating a plan.

He'd behave like a good boy, and one day she'll untie him completely, and then he would run and find Yuu and they would run far far away from the 20th ward of Tokyo. This thought alone seemed to send a lethargic feeling throughout his entire body, calming his frayed nerves.

Krul did not give him a fork. Just watched him expectantly as he raised a portion of the steak into his mouth and carefully bit into it, stomach rumbling.

Immediately, he recoiled, throwing the steak across the room, sure she was trying to poison him-the texture was leathery and rough, and the steak tasted _coarse,_ somehow, like how he imagined roadkill would taste-like sweat and dirt, filled his nose with an awful stench that made his eyes tear up, and he instantly turned to look at Krul in horror, heart racing.

"What-what was that-" He gasped for air, realizing that his breathing had become fast and uneven once again. The steak looked perfectly fine, looked like there was nothing wrong with it whatsoever...But it smelled so awful and tasted even worse.

A strangely satisfied look passed onto Krul's face.

"So it worked, then," She said, and reached out, stroking Mika's hair. He nearly flinched away from her, feeling his entire body convulsing in panic and terror. He was going to die, he was really going to die here and he would never be able to find Yuu and he would...He would…

"I'm not going to hurt you," Krul said in a soothing voice, noticing his consternation, but Mika only felt more panicked, "The experiment was a success, so...You are really a ghoul now."

Mika froze.

Felt his heart stop.

"I...What?"

"You are a ghoul now," Krul said, moving her hand onto his cheek and turning his face towards her. Her magenta eyes were gone-replaced by crimson red pupils, surrounded by black. "You need to feed on humans to survive, dear Mikaela."

"I...You're lying," Mika instantly recoiled from her, staring at her wide-eyed with shock, "You can't...You can't be serious…"

His stomach suddenly gave another low rumble.

Krul's eyes slid down to it, and in a blink, they returned to their normal shining magenta.

"I have proof for you," Krul said, getting to her feet gracefully, "I went hunting yesterday. I'll return."

She swept out of the room like something unreal, inhumanly graceful, leaving Mika there, alone.

He could only stare at the steak lying halfway across the room, recalling details from his textbook. Ghouls couldn't consume human food, as their tongues were structured differently from humans. It made everything taste horrible to them, and even if they managed to swallow it down, their bodies produced an enzyme that made them unable to digest it. It would certainly only make their hunger worse.

But…

He can't possibly be a ghoul. She was lying. Ghouls lied. Ghouls were monstrous creatures that deceived others and fed upon them, and shouldn't be trusted. Humans can't be turned into ghouls. They're not like vampires, or anything-getting bit wouldn't turn you into one of them. Krul must have cooked the steak so it tasted absolutely disgusting, so she could trick him…

Yes, she would do that.

She was a ghoul, after all.

Krul entered the room once again, one hand holding a plastic bag and the other, a mirror. She stopped right in front of his bed, staring down at him with an unreadable look in her eyes. She leaned forward, placing the plastic bag in front of him.

Instantly, Mika could smell something enticing, something warm and delicious-like the cakes he'd had at Sanguinem, like the curry Akane made sometimes. He reached out for the bag in disbelief, his stomach rumbling once again. He hadn't realized how hungry he'd actually been until now, smelling...What _is_ this smell?...

He reached into the bag, and instantly felt his hand get soaked into...Something. Extracting it hastily, he saw that, to his horror, it was covered in red.

Mika screamed, scrambling away from the bag and accidentally kicking it over in the process, revealing several chunks of flesh and a _human kidney_ that had been inside the bag. Krul lunged forward, grabbing his face and forcing him to look at her as she held up the mirror. In it, he saw his reflection-blond hair matted to his forehead with sweat, and his right eye deep blue and shining-but his other eye horrifying, the pupil small and red as blood, what had once been shining white now a sea of inky black.

This was…

This was…

He is…

"You are," Krul whispered in his ear, leaning forward, "A ghoul now."

Mika did not respond at all for several days after this.

She came into the room every day, encouraging him to eat the human flesh. Just a little bit. A small bite, and he'd feel better. He never responded, just sat there in continuous shock, trying to register what had happened. The black in his eye. That bright red pupil. Enticed by the smell of human remains.

This didn't make sense.

Nothing did.

He lost track of the time, unable to tell how many days had passed. There were no windows in the dark room he was in, and the only light was the flickering one overhead. Krul commented on it once, but Mika didn't really hear what she said. He eventually stirred from his shock and weakly begged her to let him go. His stomach continued to growl, and his head pounded every time it did so.

Krul heard his stomach growl in the midst of one of his pleas and smiled at him, eyes shining once again.

"I can get you some food," She said, unaffected by his begging, "You can't fight the hunger forever, Mikaela. It's a ghoul's worst nightmare."

"I'm not a ghoul," Mika sobbed, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his one free arm around them, wanting to bury his face and disappear, "Please just let me go...Let me find my family."

"Your family is dead," Krul's voice was suddenly cold, though still seemingly calm.

"No...No, Yuu-chan is alive...He's still alive…" Mika shook his head, eyes closed, thinking of the black-haired boy, "He's still alive…"

"He's probably dead," Krul snapped, angry, "He's got nowhere to go. The director of Hyakuya orphanage has fled. He'll be dead on the streets soon if he isn't already."

Mika didn't respond, barely registering what she said.

 _The director of Hyakuya orphanage has fled..._

Krul left once again, and she did not return for many long hours.

Long hours that Mika spent with his back to the wall, stomach gurgling, churning, demanding that he eat. It ached. His entire body ached. Sweat ran down the side of his face, and his back was soaked with it. His breathing was clipped.

He was starving.

Starving.

So hungry.

When was the last time he ate?

His head hurt.

It felt as if someone were drilling holes into his skull.

Like someone was pressing needles into his eyes.

He wanted to curl up and moan, feeling as if his stomach was trying to collapse upon itself.

Krul came in just as he was starting to wonder if she'd finally gotten frustrated with him and abandoned him.

She had a plastic bag in her hands.

"I brought you food," Krul said, holding it out to him.

Mika didn't reach for it. He already knew what it was-there was a hole in the bottom of the bag that caused the blood inside to drip onto the floor. Krul took another step forward, looking a little angry as she did so. She was so tiny. And yet, so intimidating to him. The bed springs creaked as she leaned against it, and said,

"Don't let your hunger consume you. It's a nightmare. I know. You need to eat soon."

"No," He said, turning his head away from the plastic bag being shaken in front of his face, "I don't want to eat a human...I'm not like you…"

"Oh, really?" Krul smirked, straightening up, "Because it sure as hell looks like you are to me."

She pointed at his left eye. Mika assumed it had turned black and red again at the smell of the contents of the bag-it smelled so, so sweet, something he could nearly compare to human food, but...

"I'm not going to eat someone," Mika said weakly, his throat aching, turning his head away from the bag, his vision swimming, "I can't do it, I can't…"

"You only need a body every month or two to survive," Krul said, voice suddenly gentle and reassuring,"And you don't even need to eat the whole thing. The kidneys and liver can hold you out for a good while. Even just the arms or legs."

"No," Mika repeated, thinking of Yuu. What would he say if he ate a human?

 _You're a monster._

He felt tears sting his eyes.

"I'm not going to do it...I can't...Just kill me."

"You're being pathetic right now."

"Just let me go…"

"I can't," Krul stared down at him, "I risked too much to have you right now. I'm not letting you go so simply. I almost got caught by Doves carrying your body here. You really think I'm just going to let you go like that?"

"Please…Yuu wouldn't want me to…"

"Forget him. He's gone."

"Krul," He whispered her name for the first time, "I can't do it. I won't-"

Krul shoved the plastic bag in his face, her tone suddenly full of rage.

"Eat it!"

"No!" Mika cried out, raising his arm and smacking the bag out of her hand, away from his face, where he could smell how warm and sweet and mouth-watering it all was, sickened with the way it only made his stomach growl even more, "I can't...I just can't…"

The bag lay on the floor. The contents had managed to not spill out.

Krul was silent, staring at Mika, and the bag, for such a long time, the air around her seemingly frozen. Finally, she took a few steps back, eyes focused on him. He watched her with fear, afraid that he had finally crossed the line, afraid that he had made her angry and she was going to kill him…

The tentacle-like protrusions sprung from her back once again, curling in the air, seemingly threatening him. Mika imagined one piercing through his skin and instantly flinched away, feeling his heart race. He was going to die...He was going to die, and Yuu-chan was probably out there, hungry and lost, if what she had said was true…

But...he would be joining the rest of his family, right? Akane, Kouta, Chihiro, Fumie, Ako, and Taichi. He would be joining them all soon.

Mika reeled back, preparing for his fate, only to gasp in horror and shock as two of those _things_ wrapped around Krul's left arm and yanked it clean off. Blood spattered the walls and his own face, and Mika let out a shriek of horror as she grabbed the torn arm with her other one and tossed it to him. It landed in front of him, and Mika recoiled instantly, still screaming.

Two of the appendages wrapped around her other arm and ripped it off her torso, tossing it to him. Krul merely stared down at him, scleras black. Pupils glowing.

"Eat," She said, "I'll grow them back in a couple of days. Eat them now. Don't make me regret this."

Mika felt his stomach plummet as she commanded him to do so. He couldn't do this. He couldn't...He couldn't…

One of the tentacles shot towards the arm closest to him and shoved it at him, and it landed directly in his lap. Mika screamed, scrambling away as far as he could with his other wrist still tied to the bed, feeling violently sick. He yanked on it, harder than he ever had before, and his raw skin screamed at him, his breathing quickening as he tried to get the arm out of his lap without touching it.

"Eat it," Krul commanded, and though she had whispered it, it seemed to echo in Mika's ears. His mouth was still watering from the scent of human flesh not six feet away from him, and his stomach continued to growl, his hunger making his every move painful, "You're not eating a human, now, so are you happy? Look, I just sacrificed my arms for you."

Mika looked back down at the arm in his lap, his horror dripping away. Was this really who he was, now? A monster who who feed on another monster until the day he died?

He was a ghoul, now. There was no other explanation. One of his eyes was different. His hunger only grew at the scent of human flesh and blood. And _oh,_ his _hunger,_ how it was paining him, _killing_ him from the inside out…

But…

Was there a way for him to be turned back into a human?  
So he wouldn't…

So he couldn't…

He looked up at Krul, who stared back. Her eyes weren't looking at him. They were looking at her severed arms.

He…

 _I need to do this._

This thought entered his mind, clear and vibrant.

 _For Yuu._

 _So I can…_

 _So I can find him._

Tentatively, Mika gripped the arm, and raised it to his face, trying not to gag or feel sick. He closed his eyes, hoping that this would make him feel better about the whole situation, but even as his mouth closed over the still-warm flesh, he felt the violent urge to throw it across the arm and puke up his guts.

It took him so long to finally bite into it, and when he did, he nearly recoiled. The flesh tasted coarse and the blood a little sour, but it wasn't as horrible as the steak had tasted. More like broccoli or some other vegetable he hated-tasted awful, but still edible. It didn't smell nearly as wonderful as the human meat had…

 _Stop it. Don't think like that._

Mika continued to bite into the arm, chewing and swallowing, chewing and swallowing, licking at blood that trickled down his chin and flinching when he bit right through a vein.

Chew and swallow. Chew and swallow.

He felt Krul's presence, felt the bed sink down as she sat on it. He opened his eyes, realizing he had eaten nearly the entire arm-sinew and bone barely held it together, and he instantly dropped it, feeling horrified at what he'd just done. How his hunger was a bit satisfied, not aching and twisting as it had moments before. Krul was smiling at him, and she looked so strange with no arms, with bloody gaping holes on the sides of her body, where flesh had already started to heal and pull together, like knitwork.

"Eat the other one," She encouraged softly, "You're small, you should be satisfied with them for now. You won't have to eat for a whole month."

Mika realized he was crying as he picked up the other arm. His entire body felt numb, now. Numb. He didn't feel horror. Or shock. Or disgust. Just absolute numbness as he ate through the other arm, and then fell asleep due to the exhaustion of the past few days leaning against Krul's bloody shoulder.

* * *

Yuu stood outside the classroom, feeling as if a large amount of pressure was building up in his chest. He felt Shigure nudge him from behind, and he nearly smacked her hand away. It'd been nearly a year since he'd attended a school of any sort, and this wasn't really a normal school-the CCG had a program that trained kids from a young age to be Ghoul or Bureau Investigators. Guren had explained to him about this so many months ago, but was just now letting him attend.

 _Stupid Guren. I'm going to be months behind._

"I can do it by myself, Shigure," Yuu said, striding forward and opening the door loudly. Nearly a dozen pairs of eyes swivelled towards him, and he instantly regretted his decision. However, he felt Shigure nudge him from behind again, so he stepped forward reluctantly. A tall man stood in front of the classroom, with white hair and blue eyes the color of ice. His name was Shinya Hiragi, and Yuu knew him because he was Guren's friend who often came over uninvited into the apartment they lived in.

Seeing him sent a wave of surprise throughout Yuu's body.

"Good morning," Shinya said cheerfully, giving them a wave and unaware of Yuu's shock, "We just started."

Yuu blinked up at Shinya. "What are you doing here?"

"I teach class on Mondays."

"But...Why?"

"Don't ask questions," Shigure said from behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder and forcing him gently towards the nearest available desk. Shinya continued to smile at him even as he was sat down, his face turning red from Shigure having to physically force him into the seat. Even his desire for revenge had it's limits, and having Shinya as his teacher was pushing them.

"Please don't cause a ruckus," Shigure sighed, staring down at him. This was the only time she ever appeared taller than Yuu, who was nearly two whole inches taller than her normally, despite only being thirteen. He hated to admit that he had grown attached to her ever since day one, with her eyes the same shade as his mother's, her dark hair akin to his own, but he had. For a long few weeks, he'd refused to talk to anyone but her, even if he was embarrassed because he had cried into her chest for hours on end after everything had happened.

Now, Yuu realized he didn't really want her to leave. Hell, he'd hardly been able to leave Guren's apartment this morning without him. Departing from Shigure right now didn't seem like the greatest of options, especially since his skin was currently crawling with anxiety.

 _Stop it,_ He screamed internally at himself, _What are you, a baby? How are you supposed to kill ghouls if you can't even stay away from Shigure or Guren long enough?_

Shigure seemed to read the look on his face, and drew her lips up into a rare smile, but did not say anything as she turned around swiftly and left the classroom.

Yuu felt as if his own arm had been ripped from his body.

Shinya continued smiling from the front of the room, and proceeded to call attendance. Most of the children responded with reluctant "hello"'s, which made Yuu suspect that most of them would rather not be here. Hadn't Guren said that if a child was taken into the custody of the CCG they would attend the class? He hadn't really been paying attention. Why would he? Guren was all talk and no action. He promised Yuu he'd get to kill ghouls.

And now he's stuck in a classroom.

"Hiragi Shinoa," Shinya said, apparently having memorized the entire attendance chart, seeing as there was nothing in his hands. A girl with ashen-colored hair smiled up at him and said,

"Present, as always, dear brother."

"Hyakuya Yuuichirou," Shinya responded without acknowledging her. Yuu lifted his shoulders up in a half-shrug, not wanting to say anything. Shinya moved on with the roll-call, and when he finished, began the lesson.

During lunch, Yuu could barely sit still.

It was really the same stuff he'd learned back in school, and he just wanted to know when he'd be able to get a weapon or a Quinque to fight with. If he was to get his revenge on the ghouls, how would he do it if he was going to be stuck here for several years learning boring stuff nobody needs to know? Who cares about the enzymes as ghoul has that prevents it from eating or whatever?

Nobody. Nobody cares.

 _Mika cared._

This thought entered his mind unwillingly, and he angrily shot it down.

 _Shut up, me._

Fuming silently to himself, he aggressively began eating his potato chips, chewing furiously. He would hunt Guren down after this. He'd spent the past four hours bored out of mind. In a room full of a bunch of crybabies, too. The kid behind him didn't look like he was ready to take on a ghoul at all!

"Wow. What did those poor chips ever do to you?" A voice asked, and Yuu looked up to see Shinoa Hiragi, a girl he'd met twice before when Shinya brought her over to the house.

She'd stolen his phone and proceeded to change the grand total of six contact names on his phone to 'Bob.'

"Go away, Shinoa," Yuu mumbled, grabbing another fistful of chips. Shinoa slid into the seat across from him, smiling that damn smile of hers that was so irritating. She was tiny, but still very annoying. Like a flea or something.

 _Shinoa the flea._

For some reason, this thought was a little amusing.

"Is that any way to talk to your superior?" She sang, resting her head in the palms of her hands, "I'm merely trying to be nice to you, Yuu-san."

"Fuck off."

"Oh my! What big boy language!"

Shinoa continued to smile at him, and Yuu continued to glare at her. He could feel the concerned eyes of the boy who sat behind him in class-the boy who didn't seem fit at all to be a Ghoul Investigator. And then-oh, was he coming towards them?...

"Good afternoon," The boy said, olive eyes wide, "Is anyone sitting there?"

He pointed to one of the empty seats besides the two. Yuu nodded, but Shinoa smiled wide.

"Of course not! Come sit here, Yoichi!" She said, patting the seat beside her. Yoichi smiled and scrambled over to the seat, holding the provided lunch in hand, which he had not yet touched. Yuu himself finished the potato chips and started picking the tomatoes out of the small salad provided. He didn't want to talk to the crybaby kid.

Was being a crybaby infectious?

 _You're the biggest crybaby,_ A voice that sounded suspiciously like Mika's teased inside his head, _You always cried whenever a sad pet commercial came on! Or whenever someone stole your crayons!_

Yuu flung a tomato from his salad angrily at the trash can.

"You should eat your tomatoes. They're good for you," Shinoa said, cocking her head to the side. Despite her constant teasing tone, her eyes seemed strangely...What was the word?

Not cold. Just the same feeling of some sort of weird indifference that was in Shinya's eyes. Yuu has no idea how they're not actually related.

"Leave me alone."

"Someone's got quite the attitude, yes?"

"I'm not interested in being your friend, Shinoa," Yuu stated, clenching his fist and glaring at her. She'd been like this ever since the first day he met her-annoying, ranting about how they would become the best of friends. But Yuu didn't need that. Nobody could ever be his best friend.

Nobody could ever replace Mika.

Yoichi watched their exchange with a worried expression, and when Shinoa finally stopped talking, spoke up.

"Uh, h-hello. I'm Yoichi Saotome. It's nice to meet you."

"Save us the introduction, Yoichi," Shinoa waved airily towards him, "No need to be all proper and stuff, even if I am a Hiragi!"

Yoichi's face turned a little pink, and he responded by shoving a handful of chips into his mouth, most likely to avoid speaking.

"What are you here for?" Yuu questioned, wanting to know why a fragile-looking kid like himself was here in training to become a Ghoul Investigator. Yoichi looked up, still chewing. He swallowed and said,

"Ah, well...My older sister Tomoe was recently killed by a ghoul. And she w-was the only family member I had left, so…"

"So the CCG made you attend?" Yuu asked.

"Well, actually, I chose to come myself," Yoichi explained, "I promised that I would...Well, I promised to get revenge for my sister. She meant a lot to me."

Silence settled over the table. Yuu stopped picking the tomatoes out of his salad, and instead opened up his carton of milk, draining half of it in a gulp before slamming it back down.

"That's stupid," He said to Yoichi, watching the surprise flit across his face, "Your sister doesn't want you to get revenge, Yoichi."

"You're such a hypocrite," Shinoa sighed, closing her eyes and humming. She took the cookie out of her lunch bag and tossed the rest into the middle of the table, leaving it up for grabs.

"I said fuck off, Shinoa," Yuu said, reaching over and taking her potato chips. Shinoa giggled, opening her eyes once again.

"I can't _wait_ for you to meet Kimizuki."

" _Who?_ "

"Well, he's absent today," Shinoa smiled, getting to her feet. The smile slid off her face. "He's a lot like you, I guess."

"For some reason, you say this in an offensive voice," Yuu glared at her. Shinoa laughed. She was barely a few months younger than him, twelve, but damn, it showed.

Yuu was a mature thirteen year old.

Definitely.

The rest of the day continued in a bland blur that Yuu barely registered. He was just irritated. Extremely. He wanted to be killing ghouls. Now.

Killing ghouls.

Ghouls…

For so long, his family's faces had swam before his closed eyes, taunting him, since the day it happened. Stating that if he had been strong enough, skilled enough, he could of...He could of…

 _I could of killed that bastard._

"Good afternoon," A voice said, and Yuu looked up immediately, hoping it was Shigure so he could complain to her-she listened easily, which was good, because Guren often told him to shut up if he did so, but instead came face-to-face with Sayuri, who was smiling at him, her wheat-colored hair framing her face.

That was okay. Sayuri was easy to talk to. Besides, he hadn't even noticed that the entire day had gone by. He'd been invested in his thoughts, which were much more interesting than the class at hand, even with Shinya as the teacher.

"Hi, Sayuri," Yuu said, remembering the last time he'd spoken to her-two weeks before, after the 'Bob' incident, when he'd called everyone on his contact list to clarify who was who. She'd been understanding of his situation, but suggested in a soft, joking manner, that he keep her contact name as Bob.

"How did you like class today?" Sayuri asked cheerfully as he stood to his feet, shoving his hands inside his jacket pocket. Yuu felt the eyes of Shinoa training on him, and he merely shrugged.

"Boring as hell," he said honestly, "Why am I here, Sayuri? I want to be on the same team as you guys."

"I know," Sayuri said sympathetically, and the two of them began walking, down the hallways of the CCG building. Yuu had been here plenty of times-at first, he'd felt some sort of...Not excitement, but eagerness, being in a building he'd longed to be in. Longed to get put on a team, so he could have his revenge.

"We can't let a thirteen year old on our team, though," Sayuri said, smiling softly at him, "We can barely handle Goshi, and he has the mentality of one."

Goshi was another one of Guren's teammates, and the one that he had last called during the Great Bob incident. Goshi was full of puns and inappropriate jokes that often went over his head, which was 90% of the reason Yuu liked him. He was like that one too-honest uncle at a family gathering that would take a chip directly off your plate and double dip, eating it in front of you and then laughing about it.

Yuu didn't say anything as Sayuri walked him through the halls, leaving the building after walking through the Rc scanners. Guren's apartment was a few blocks from the building, and Sayuri walked him to the crosswalk before smiling and waving at him.

"Be safe!" She said, "And if you run into trouble, just call Mito, she's off today."

"Okay," Yuu said, raising his shoulders up in a half-shrug, but he was secretly glad to have talked to her, even if it had only been for a couple of minutes and she'd done most of the talking.

Walking down the street, Yuu tried to focus on what had happened in class. Or what Shinoa had said. Anything, really. When he let his thoughts wander…

 _They always come back to that scene._

Everyone lying in pools of their own blood, Chihiro's body convulsing.

Mika staring up at him with wide, teary blue eyes as his body dropped to the ground. Blood pouring from the wound. Blood…

So much blood. Yuu could almost smell it.

He hated letting his thoughts wander, because they often came back to that scene, vivid and playing in his memory as clear as day, as though it had only happened yesterday.

Without realizing it, his feet had carried him all the way up the stairs to Guren's apartment (because the elevator was out of order _again_ ) and he stood before the door, feeling somehow distanced from reality.

He wanted to kill ghouls.

An urge that often tugged at him strongly, like a magnetic pull.

He vaguely heard the others talking about it before, when they'd all thought him to be asleep, and he'd heard phrases like _coping mechanism_ and _a will to live brought on by PTSD_ but honestly? That was all such utter bullshit.

He didn't want to kill ghouls to cope with losing everyone. He wanted to kill ghouls because….because…

Because ghouls were evil, of course.

Yeah. That's-

"You gonna stand there all day or walk in?" A voice cut clean through his thoughts, and Yuu realized he had opened the door and been standing in the hallway for several long moments. The voice belonged to Guren, his legal guardian, who was lounging on the couch with several documents in hand.

"Shut up, Guren," Yuu said, stomping inside and slamming the door shut, "I'm hungry."

"Make yourself some food."

"Do we have any chicken nuggets?"

Guren waved his hand, not really answering, and when Yuu checked the fridge, saw that they did, indeed, have chicken nuggets.

Beginning to heat himself up a plate, he heard Guren get off the couch in the other room and approach the kitchen, hearing him sigh tiredly.

"How was class, brat?"

"Boring as hell," Yuu repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time, "Why do I have to go to class? Just put me on a team!"

"You'd get yourself killed in a day."

"Not true."

"It's very true."

"Is not," Yuu opened the microwave just before it went off, feeling surges of fresh anger course through him. He didn't want to be sitting around while monsters roamed the streets, killing innocent people…

Guren hummed in response as he shoved two nuggets into his mouth at once, clenching the plate close to his chest.

Guren started talking about some bullshit Yuu didn't even pay attention to anymore-if he wasn't talking about letting him have a Quinque or something else to begin hunting those flesheaters down, what was the point?-but something caught his attention.

"-is coming over, and he's bringing his sister."

"What? Shinya?" Yuu asked, trying to recall if Goshi had a sister. That'd be better, if Goshi was coming over and bringing a sister he hadn't known of over, but if Shinya was coming over…

 _Shinoa the flea._

"Yeah," Guren said, his chin propped up on his hand and gazing down at Yuu. They'd often been mistaken as actual father and son, with their dark hair and intense gazes, but both had always shot down the idea as soon as it was suggested. Though there'd been one time Guren had called Yuu "his kid." He'd tried to deliver a kick to Guren's shins, only for the older man to dodge it with ease.

"I'm going to my room," Yuu said, turning on his heel and stomping away, feeling as if today would just be one shitty event after another.

Just like any other day.

* * *

Mika watched as Sachiko jotted down a customer's orders, some human he didn't recognize. His arms were crossed over the counter, his jacket tied loosely around his waist. One of the new waitresses, Chess, held up a cup of coffee, squinting at the name scrawled there. Her lips mouthed the name silently, but her deep-set blue eyes kept flickering over to the customer Sachiko was taking an order from.

Mika had a good idea as to who was going to end up as her dinner, at least. Sachiko returned and began preparing the customer's drink instantly. Mika rested his head on top of his arms, feeling bored. Krul had said she'd return today, but he'd been waiting for several hours, and the day was coming to a close. Another waitress, Horn, glanced at him as she walked towards the back room, and Mika merely stared back. He was used to the others staring-he was Krul's pet, after all.

Krul's pet. A filthy ghoul.

That was all he was.

That'd been the reality he'd lived in for the past year, spending most of his time in the apartment above the café reading or writing, occasionally slinking downstairs when his existence became too lonely. Krul was often out, 'doing business' in other wards, she often claimed.

She always returned, however, around the time he began to become hungry. And she'd always severed her own limbs easily for him, let him feed on them in the bathtub upstairs so he wouldn't get blood everywhere.

Mika felt his lips curl up in a sneer as another ghoul looked towards him with suspicious eyes. He could only tell she was a ghoul due to her strange scent, different from the surrounding humans-who smelled warm and fresh, something he could almost compare to bread, but not quite.

He turned on his heel and stomped upstairs for the remainder of the evening. Krul wouldn't be returning any time soon.

Coming downstairs had been pointless.

"Krul's been gone for sooooo long," Chess complained later that night, in the apartment above the café. She'd shrugged off the vest of her uniform, looking worn out, "And I'm stuck with babysitting duty."

"I never asked for you to babysit me," Mika said, looking down at his book. He'd read it before. He'd read all the books here before.

It was all he had to do.

Chess turned her nose up at him, crossing her arms and taking a deep breath.

"I wish Horn was here," She sighed, still complaining, "She knows how to handle kids better than I do. I think. She seems like the kind of person who handles kids better…"

"Are you really going to let Horn one-up you?" Mika asked blandly, knowing she hated to 'lose to' the older woman, and Chess immediately shook her head rapidly, looking agitated.

"No way! She's always making me look stupid!"

Mika turned the page in his book, feeling indifferent to the area surrounding him. But somewhere, in the back of his mind, stewing as always, was concern for Yuu.

It'd been a year since he'd seen his jet-black hair and vibrant green eyes, been a year since he heard him scream and watched him sprint away with tears in his eyes. The memory replayed constantly like a broken record in the back of his mind, every hour of the day, every moment he continued breathing and living.

Every moment he longed to know what happened to Yuu. To see if he'd ended up as some other ghoul's dinner. Another ghoul…

His vision clouded as he was filled with hatred. Stupid, stupid ghouls. Pretending to be human. Pretending to be like he had been, tricking innocent people. Imagine being friends with a ghoul without knowing, and the last thing you'd ever see was a ghoul's face as it prepared to bite on you.

Without him knowing, Chess watched the silent boy in concern, a frown on her face. It was common knowledge that Mikaela, Krul's 'pet', was indifferent to his surroundings, uninterested in anything, and refused to talk most of the time. _A difficult pet,_ was the whisper between ghouls, _A pet she has no business of keeping._

The purple-haired woman leaned back in her chair, sighing. This was going to be a long night. Mika wouldn't cooperate with her.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked when it was silent for far too long. Mika didn't respond.

Of course.

At that moment, the door to the apartment flung open and a familiar figure stepped through, pink hair pulled up into pigtails and shining magenta eyes scanning the room. Chess leapt to her feet, feeling relieved.

"Krul, you're here!" She cheered, before frowning at the man she noticed just behind her, "Hey, who the heck is that?"

Mika looked up, disinterested, only for his eyes to widen at a ghoul he'd never seen before. A young man with purplish hair pulled up in a messy bun, with an uneven fringe and round, amber-colored eyes. He might've mistaken him for a human college student had it not been for the unmistakably harsh scent of a ghoul that surrounded him, and the tattered, raggedy clothes just visible beneath a large black overcoat a size too big for him.

"Oh," Krul said, her voice every bit as disinterested as Mika's often was, "This is Lacus Welt, from the fourth ward. Starting today, he will be working at Sanguinem."

There was a brief stretch of silence.

"What?" Chess asked, confused, and Krul turned her attention to the woman, who was barely taller than her.

"Thank you, Chess, for watching over Mika," She said, placing her hand on top of Chess's shoulder, "But I need you to leave."

Chess stared down at her in bewilderment, before turning and leaving abruptly, muttering something about being hungry anyways. Krul coaxed the jumpy-looking man into her apartment, talking in a soothing voice the entire time. Mika tried to pretend to be indifferent, but a nagging curiosity kept his eyes trained on them.

Eventually he was sat down, on the couch, and Krul turned to Mika, staring long and hard at him.

"Lacus will live here," She said in a smooth voice, "For a few months."

"Who is he?" Mika asked on impulse. Had she said he was from the fourth ward? But… Ghouls couldn't live there. It was practically uninhabitable.

"He is…" Krul paused, before sighing, sinking onto the couch beside Lacus, "A long story, is what he is."


End file.
